Transplantation News

PHILADELPHIA — Liver transplant recipients who lived in counties with limited access to healthy food were at higher risk for developing diabetes following transplantation, according to data presented at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting.

Rates of liver-related mortality increased by 19.1% from 2018 to 2021 and varied “several-fold” between states, underscoring the need for improved access to liver transplantation regardless of location, according to researchers.

Over three decades, changes to organ allocation policies were associated with reduced waitlist mortality and increased rates of liver transplant among children with pediatric acute liver failure, according to research in JAMA Surgery.

Immunotherapy treatment may make liver transplant viable for patients with later-stage hepatocellular carcinoma provided they adhere to a 3-month waiting period, according to study results.

Nearly two-thirds of patients with excessive alcohol use and a high fibrosis-4 index were not referred for liver-related care, with fewer referrals among those with mental health disorders or alcohol-related mental health hospitalizations.

A simple median waiting time that did not account for censoring, death and other competing events underestimated time to organ transplantation by up to 61% compared with a competing-risk model, according to a study conducted in Switzerland.

Researchers have identified additional predictors of relapse in patients undergoing liver transplant for alcohol-related liver disease, including younger age and prior relapse, which differ from components of current prediction scores.

Most recipients of early liver transplant for severe alcohol-related liver disease live in close proximity to transplant centers, which are more likely to be in socially advantaged areas, according to research in Gastro Hep Advances.

Women with hepatocellular carcinoma were less likely to receive a liver transplant and more likely to die or be removed from the waitlist vs. men, underscoring the need for changes to allocation policies, according to researchers.